Commentary on Canada’s 2018 budget includes a feature on addressing the need for more women in construction trades, and FPAC provides a breakdown on how the budget will benefit the forest sector.

Cleaning-up: BC’s West Fraser Timber is designing an engineered cover that will keep coal pile contaminants from entering into adjacent land areas and Northern Pulp has been given a cleanup directive from the Nova Scotia government to manage power boiler ash. 

The BC Wood WORKS! awards are still rocking the news scene (in Penticton and Whistler), and in the UK, TRADA is encouraging more young people to think about wood with their Urban Buzz program where 60 students from 28 universities competed in a timber design competition. 

The University of Arizona notes a disturbing trend in wildfires that shows an increase in area burned that will continue into coming decades in the Pacific Northwest. They hope their research serves as a ‘wake-up call to public agencies and landowners’. Protecting forests from fire, a collaborative approach is working in Ashland, Oregon, and California is asking for increased funding to bring in extra firefighters and implement a more nimble response time when help is needed.

—Sandy McKellar, Tree Frog Editor